31/08/2019 - Environment

KEY POINTS

Forest fires, a catastrophic event

·        In a rainforest-like the Amazon, massive forest fires are a disaster. They irretrievably destroy the habitat of tens of thousands of plant and animal species.

·        If the rainforest burns down, all nutrients are lost because they are stored in the plants themselves, not in the soil.

·        Scientists describe tropical rainforests like those in the Amazon, the Congo Basin and Southeast Asia as “fire-sensitive ecosystems.”

·        If there is a prolonged drought, however, triggered for example by the El Nino climate phenomenon or in case of purposefully started fires needed for large-scale logging and the creation of plantations disastrous surface fires develop quickly.

·        The plants and animals lack a natural ability to resist and recover from fires.

Forest Fires Utility

Cleansing properties

·        Animals and plants often have a natural capacity for resistance in such fire-dependent ecosystems. The nature of the fires varies, however.

·        In grasslands, savannahs, some forests and wetlands, only a moderately intense ground fire sweeps through, ensuring that the open landscape structure is maintained.

·        They consume old and diseased trees, create new habitats and ensure an ecological rejuvenation of the tree population.

·        Intervening in these ecosystems, for instance by preventing small fires in order to protect the population, can have fatal consequences. Over time, more and more combustible material accumulates.

·        Even harmless fires can quickly turn into highly destructive walls of flames. This happens time and again in Australia or in the dense pine forests in the southwest of the United States, which were once grasslands.

Fires give new life

·        Many plants in the southern US, in the Mediterranean region or in Australia actually need fire to survive. The Douglas fir, a conifer species, survives most fires thanks to its thick bark  after a fire, it will sprout new shoots.

·        After a fire, without the usually dense treetops, more sunlight reaches the forest floor and the seedlings find enough nutrients because they do not have to compete with other plant species.

·        Even some insect species need the fire to survive, including the larvae of the Australian fire beetle that can only develop in freshly burnt wood.

·        The jewel beetle, which lives in Europe, lays its eggs in recently burnt forests. Storks and birds of prey feast on beetles and insects made sluggish by the smoke after a forest fire.

Why sometimes forest fires are a good thing

·        Climate change is bound to increase the risk of forest fires even further. In just a few decades, the southern Mediterranean region will face the risk of forest fires throughout the year.

·        In northern Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, the forest fire season will likely start earlier and last longer. At the same time, lightning is likely to strike more often, in turn sparking more forest fires.

·        Forest fires cause 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than 30% of global carbon monoxide emissions, 10% of methane emissions and more than 85% of global soot emissions.

·        They contribute greatly to global warming, which in turn leads to forests becoming increasingly dry and weak. This destructive cycle often makes it easy for new fires to develop.

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